Category Archives: Food

Cumin-Cayenne Tilapia

Sometimes when it comes to cooking, less is more. This is one of those times. Just a few simple spices on a very lean piece of fish for a quick trip under the broiler and dinner is served. This dish is so versatile that you can take the side dishes in any direction you want, but a simple brown rice and some steamed green beans do the trick with no fuss.

‘Nuff said. Get cooking.

 

Cumin-Cayenne Tilapia

 

serves 4

 

Ingredients:

olive oil

4 tilapia fillets

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne (red) pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 lime

cooking spray

 

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler and place rack on second shelf from the top. Line a broiler plan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. Rinse tilapia and pat dry. Rub a small amount of olive oil evenly over fish.

3. Combine cumin through black pepper. Sprinkle over fish, more or less generously depending upon on how spicy you like it. I sprinkle sparingly over the kids’ portions and more heavily for the adults.

4. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes (depending upon the thickness) or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the fillets and serve.

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One woman’s breakfast table wakeup call

This is a guest post written by Paige Engle, one of my coaching clients. When she told me this story about her daughter’s “healthy breakfast” and how it had become the wake up call that began her journey toward upgrading her family’s diet, I asked her to share it for the blog!

I love to see the connections and changes that my clients make so quickly when we begin to work together. Paige is doing a terrific job of paying attention to where she can make simple changes to continuously upgrade her family’s eating patterns. See if you can learn anything from this true story – and share your insights with me in comments or on Facebook!

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I am not sure what triggered my concern for sugars in my daughter’s diet.  Maybe it was a magazine article or something on the news.  Anyway, I felt like I was already ahead of the game since my kids do not drink soda and almost never have juice boxes or juice other than orange juice (orange juice must be super healthy–right?).  Being very much the amateur at reading labels I decided to just see how much sugar my daughter was consuming at breakfast.  Her average breakfast was this:  1 blueberry Eggo waffle, 1 helping of strawberry yogurt, fresh fruit such as strawberries and cantaloupe, 8 ounce glass of Tropicana orange juice.  Seems okay, right?  Hey, it wasn’t donuts and a juice box!  Well, all other issues such as whole grains, fats, sodium aside, I was astounded by how much sugar was in her breakfast.  As I said, I can’t remember why I was fixated on the sugar part of it, but here is the breakdown:

1 blueberry waffle: 3 grams sugar
Medium helping of strawberry yogurt: 9 grams of sugar
Fresh fruit: didn’t know how to count this, but since plain fruit is super healthy let it go
8 oz orange juice:  22 grams of sugar (YIKES)

Total: 34 grams of sugar (not counting sugar from fresh fruit)

So, my poor daughter was starting her day on a sugar high!  The World Health Organization says an average 50 grams of sugar per day is okay for an adult male.  BUT the American Heart Association has a different opinion on the matter.  The AHA says for an average adult woman it should be 24 grams per day (an adult man 36 grams).  My daughter was almost at the adult male total of sugar grams per day and she had only eaten breakfast!  Did I mention she was only 4 years old?  So, what did I do?  I admit she still gets the waffle as it is easy for me to pop in the toaster in the morning.  The plain waffles have less sugar than the blueberry.  She gets healthier yogurt with way less sugar (any “fruit” flavored yogurt has way more sugar than plain or even most vanilla flavors). The fresh fruit is still there. The biggest culprit was the orange juice.  Who would have thought that?!?  Anyway, now I give her 1/4 the amount I used to and add some water to it to make it about a 4 ounce size and that is her orange juice for the day.  I rarely give her any more orange juice the rest of the day.  Would it be better if she had whole grain/high fiber toast with low sugar peanut butter?  Sure!  But she won’t eat that.  Someday–sigh.  Why can’t I just give her broccoli for breakfast . . . hey, that’s a great idea . . .why not?!?

In conclusion, I have been working with Cherylanne at Nourish to learn to read food labels.  Now I know I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.  I am taking steps, however small they may be, to look at ALL things in the foods my family eats: whole grains, carbs, fiber, fats, sodium, protein, and, of course, sugars.  I feel good about it!!   Now, I would never claim to be anywhere near where Cherylanne is with nutrition, but I am moving in the right direction.  Plus Cherylanne has gotten me to a point where I get up and work out EVERY day.  Now that is a true feat!  Thanks Cherylanne.

– Paige Engle, Cincinnati, OH

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Szechuan Green Bean & Tofu Stir Fry

If you’re incorporating more meatless meals into your lifestyle, this is a great dish to try! If you ask me, tofu is at its absolute best when it’s cooked till crispy on the edges, and the technique used in this recipe is one way to get it to comply. The key is to thoroughly dry it first using paper towels to press out the moisture. Then, when it starts to cook you’ll want to leave it untouched with one side touching the pan until it’s browned and crispy. After that, you can turn it (infrequently) as it browns on the other sides of each cube. This mimics the texture you’d get from deep frying without all the added oil!

Green beans are the perfect pairing for this spicy sauce. You may want to serve this over brown rice but it works without it, too.

Did I mention this is ready in less than 30 minutes and has less than 225 calories (in a 1.5 cup serving)? For real.

 

Szechuan Green Bean & Tofu Stir Fry

adapted from Eating Well

 

serves 6

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water, divided

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste

1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided

1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained

2 tablespoons canola oil, divided

4 cups (or more) green beans, trimmed and cut in half

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

 

Directions:

1. Whisk 1/4 cup water, soy sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, crushed red pepper and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in a bowl. Set aside. Cut tofu into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes and blot dry using paper towels. Toss the tofu with the remaining 2 tablespoons cornstarch to coat.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and spread out across the surface of the pan. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes so that it browns. Gently turn and stir. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add green beans, garlic and ginger; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until the beans are crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir the reserved soy sauce mixture and pour it over the green beans. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Add the tofu and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute more.

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